Crop harvesting header with rotary disks and impellers for transferring the crop inwardly to a discharge opening

ABSTRACT

A crop harvesting header has a cutter bar with a plurality of generally horizontal flail disks mounted thereon for driven rotation about generally upright axes spaced along the cutter bar. At least one of the disks is mounted outwardly of the discharge opening and carries an &#34;hour glass&#34; shape impeller to carry the crop inwardly. A pair of conditioner rolls is mounted in the discharge opening and a transfer roller is mounted behind the disks and in front of the nip for transferring the crop upwardly and rearwardly from the disks to the nip. The transfer roller is of the same diameter as the bottom roll and carries high ribs preferably forwardly inclined for an aggressive action on the crop. The roller is mounted with its axis above the cutting plane and its uppermost edge of the ribs at or above the axis of the bottom roll.

This invention relates to a crop harvesting header which has a cutterbar across the width of the header which carries and drives a pluralityof transversely spaced rotary disks and particularly to an improvedimpeller for transferring the cut crop inwardly from outer disks to adischarge opening.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Crop harvesting headers which use rotary cutters in replacement for themore conventional sickle knife systems have been available for manyyears. It is well known that such rotary cutters include a cutter bar orgear train which provides the main structural and drive communicationcomponents of the cutter. The cutter bar provides a series oflongitudinally spaced vertical drive members each of which drives arespective one of a plurality of cutting disks at spaced positions alongthe cutter bar. The disks are mounted for rotation about a vertical axisstanding upwardly from the cutter bar. The disks carry at a point ontheir outer edge a plurality, generally two, of flail type blades whichrotate with the disk around the vertical axis in a cutting action.

The construction of the cutter bar itself including the suitable geartrain is well known and a number of different designs are availablewhich can be used by a person skilled in this art.

Examples of such rotary type cutters are shown in the followingdocuments.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,859 (Pruitt) issued Dec. 28, 1993 discloses amower/conditioner including a cutter bar and rotating disks feeding to arear discharge opening containing a pair of conditioning rollers. Theoutermost disk carries a generally cylindrical impeller in the form ofan upright cylindrical cage. In front of the discharge opening is aseries of disks arranged in counter-rotating pairs.

US published Patent Application 2005/0126142 (Rosenbalm) assigned toDeere which discloses a cage type impeller where the bottom disk of theimpeller is formed as a frusto-conical member converging upwardly andinwardly to the cage bars.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,852 (O'Halloran) issued Nov. 7, 1995 and U.S. Pat.No. 5,433,064 issued Jul. 18, 1995 (Schmitt) assigned to Hay and ForageIndustries of Hesston both show a construction of such a rotary cuttersystem in which there is a series of the cutter disks at spacedpositions across the cutter bar with, at each end, two of the cutterdisks extend beyond a central area in front of a discharge opening. Inthis arrangement the two end disks are driven by a mechanical drivesystem. The two end disks each carry a rotary transfer element in theform of a series of posts arranged at the periphery of a cylindersurrounding a vertical axis standing upwardly from the disk. Thetransfer elements act to carry the crop material which is cut by thedisks inwardly toward the discharge opening. A conventional cropconditioner in the form of a pair of counter-rotating rollers is mountedacross the crop discharge opening.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,201 (Pruitt) issued Dec. 12, 2000 also assigned toHay and Forage Industries discloses a modification to the above 852 and064 patents of HFI where a crop transport roller is added in the cropdischarge opening and is arranged to carry crop up to the nip of theconditioner rollers.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,865 (Rosenbalm) issued Jun. 23, 1998 assigned toDeere and Company discloses a rotary cutter system which has two enddisks outboard of the central discharge opening with a conditionerarranged at the discharge opening for receiving the cut crop andproviding a conditioning action. The conditioner can be either of aflail type or of a fluted roller type.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,488 (Neuerburg) issued Mar. 7, 1989 assigned to Kuhndiscloses a rotary cutter system which has a frusto-conical cage as theimpeller on an end disk where a drive shaft extends into the top of thecage.

EP 358,045 (Ungruh) assigned to Niemeyer Sohne GmbH published Nov. 3,1993 discloses a mower which has at least four cutting disks arranged intwo pairs rotating in the same direction and feeding to the center.Above each disk carries a cylindrical impeller which has a surfacerunning inwardly to carry the crop towards the centre. In the regionbetween each of the disks of each pair is a further cylindrical impellerwhich assists in transporting the crops to the centre.

German 32 24 170 (Mortl) published Dec. 29, 1983 discloses a headerhaving a discharge opening behind the outermost cutters of a group whichincludes four cutters. The group is arranged in two pairs with each pairrotating in opposite directions. Thus the outer cutter of the grouprotates inwardly. Outboard of this cutter is provided a further cutterwhich also rotates inwardly as shown by the arrows. This reference alsoincludes a pair of impellers, each mounted on a respective one of thetwo outer cutters which act as a conveying device for carrying the cropinwardly. The impeller is generally an upwardly tapered element oftriangular cross-section.

EP 0 016 661 (Maier) published Nov. 12, 1986 and assigned to Deutz Fahrdiscloses a cutter bar formed by a series of cutting disks where the endtwo disks at one end each carry a respective cylindrical impeller forcarrying the cut crop to a discharge opening where there is located aconditioner.

German 35 01 133 (Schulze-Selting) published Jul. 17, 1986 also assignedto Deutz Fahr discloses a cutter bar formed by a series of cutting diskswhere the end disk at one end carries a respective cylindrical impellerfor carrying the cut crop to an opening and there is provided anintermediate suspended impeller over the next disk where the suspendedimpeller is frusto-conical.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,982 (Vissers) issued May 25, 1982 and assigned toMultinorm discloses a series of rotary cutters with a pair ofconditioning rollers which extend transversely or laterally across themower narrower than the cutting zone and located in a discharge opening.A roller defines a portion or surface that moves upwardly and rearwardlyfrom the cutting plane to the nip to convey the crop cut by the cuttingdisks toward the nip.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,906,077 (Hale) issued Sep. 29, 1959 disclosesconditioner rollers in front of which is mounted a rotating roller whichrotates to feed crop upwardly and rearwardly into the nip. Forwardly ofthe roller is located a sickle blade type cutter.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,014,324 (McCarty) issued Dec. 26, 1961 discloses a pairof conditioner rollers feeding into a nip therebetween. A roller islocated in front of and below the nip of the conditioner roller androtates in a direction to feed crop into the nip.

Canadian 2,166,671 (Savoie) published Apr. 6, 1997 discloses a disccutter and a conveyor roller which feeds into the nip between a pair ofconditioning rolls located in a discharge opening behind and narrowerthan the cutter.

From the above prior art patents, it will be noted that it is well knownand widely used that each of two outermost disks carries a respectiveimpeller body carried on the disk and driven by the disk about a commongenerally upright axis. These impeller bodies or members act to carrythe crop as it is cut inwardly toward the discharge opening so that thecrop can better enter the discharge opening with less chance of blockingor collecting in the area in front of the disks or within the dischargeopening.

In many cases the discharge opening contains a conditioner for engagingand breaking or fracturing the crop to improve drying action as theswath is left in the field. Such conditioners can be of a number ofdifferent types but one common type uses a pair of fluted rollers whichform a nip so that the crop is bent as it passes between the flutes.

Where a crop conditioner is used, a transfer roller is commonly used tolift the crop from the cutting zone to the nip of the conditionerrollers.

The different types of impellers used commonly at the outer cuttingdisks include drums which are of closed outer wall and cages which areformed of bars at angularly spaced positions around the axis. In mostcases the impellers are cylindrical so that the cross section of theimpeller is constant along the height of the impeller. In other casesthe impeller is tapered so that its diameter decreases as the heightincreases so that it is either frusto-conical if circular incross-section or frusto-pyramidical if of square or triangular crosssection.

In many cases the impellers are carried on and driven by the disks butin addition intermediate impellers, which are located at a positionwhich is not aligned with one of the disks, can be supported and drivenfrom above as a suspended or hanging impeller. These hanging impellershave the same shapes and construction, that is cylindrical or tapered,as the standing impellers at the disks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one object of the invention to provide a crop harvesting header ofthe type having a series of rotary cutting disks on a cutter bar andparticularly to provide an improved impeller arrangement for assistingin transferring crop inwardly from one or more outer disks toward thedischarge opening.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a cropharvesting header comprising:

a header frame arranged to be transported across ground carrying astanding crop for harvesting;

a cutter bar mounted on the header frame across a width of the headerfor movement across the ground for harvesting the standing crop;

a plurality of generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutterbar at positions spaced transversely of the header with the disks beingmounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respective generallyupright axes spaced along the cutter bar;

each disk having mounted thereon at a position spaced outwardly from therespective axis thereof at least one cutter blade such that rotation ofthe disk about its axis causes a standing crop to be cut by the blade asit rotates around the axis on the disk;

the header frame defining a discharge opening through which the cut cropis discharged for forming a swath behind the header;

at least one of the disks being mounted outwardly of the dischargeopening such that crop cut thereby must be carried inwardly to thedischarge opening;

and at least one impeller mounted at a position at or adjacent the atleast one disk for contacting the cut crop;

the impeller being mounted for rotation about a generally upstandingaxis;

the impeller having a bottom adjacent the cutter bar and a top spacedfrom the cutter bar;

the impeller having components thereof at positions thereon extendingfrom the top to the bottom with the components being located around theaxis and with the components arranged for engaging the crop, such thatrotation of the impeller causes the components in front of the axis tomove inwardly of the header such that the engagement of the componentswith the crop tends to carry the crop inwardly toward the dischargeopening;

the components of the impeller being shaped such that a spacing of thecomponents from the axis at a top and bottom of the impeller is largerthan a spacing of the components from the axis at a position on theimpeller spaced downwardly from the top and spaced upwardly from thebottom.

The components may be separated each from the next angularly of theimpeller as in a cage type impeller or may form part of a continuoussurface surrounding the axis as in a drum type impeller. Drum typeimpellers may have additional elements attached to the surface so as toassist in engaging and moving the crop.

Each component of the impeller which engages the crop at the surface ofthe impeller may be continuous from the top to the bottom of theimpeller or it may be formed from separate pieces at different heightson the impeller. This is merely a choice in manufacture and in the mostpreferable case each component is in the form of a bar along theimpeller from top to bottom. However it will appreciate that this modeof manufacture is not essential and the components which engage the crophave different parts at different heights of the impeller. The conceptherein is that the components which engage the crop at the position,generally at or adjacent the mid height have a diameter or spacing fromthe axis which is smaller that at the top and bottom to form in effectan impeller of “hour glass” configuration.

Thus the impellers having the “hour glass” shape defining a “waist” atthe mid point are not cylindrical or “generally cylindrical” becausetheir cross-section varies along the length of the impeller.

The use of this “hour glass” concept has shown improvement in cropcollection, possibly due to the tendency of the crop to be “centered” onthe height of the impeller at the “waist” of the impeller.

Preferably the components are shaped such that they are inclined fromthe top of the impeller to the central position on the impeller and fromthe bottom of the impeller to the central position such that the spacinggradually increases. However it is not essential that the inclination beconstant or straight and curved shapes may be suitable in somecircumstances, provided the narrower “waist” is formed.

Preferably the position is approximately at the mid height of theimpeller. However this again is not essential and the “waist” may becloser to the top or the bottom.

Preferably the spacing of the components from the axis, that is thediameter, is the same at the top and the bottom, although one or theother may be larger provide each is larger than the “waist”.

Preferably there is provided at least one impeller which is co-axialwith a corresponding one of the disks and preferably that impeller islocated at the corresponding one of the disks and is driven thereby.

Preferably also there is provided at least one impeller which isseparate from the disks and the axis of the impeller is spaced from theaxis of each of the disks.

In one particularly preferred arrangement, there are two disks outsidethe discharge opening and three impellers, where two of the impellersare arranged such that each is co-axial with a corresponding one of thedisks and where one of the impellers is separate from the disks and theaxis of the impeller is spaced from the axis of each of the disks.

However in an alternative arrangement where there are two disks outsidethe discharge opening, there may be at least two impellers. In thisarrangement one of the impellers is arranged such that it is co-axialwith a corresponding one of the disks and the other one of the impellersis separate from the disks and the axis of the impeller is spaced fromthe axis of each of the disks. However it will be appreciated that theimpellers can be mounted either at the disks or separately from thedisks provided the impellers are located relative to the disks to carryout the movement function relative to the crop. The arrangement formounting and driving the disks is a matter of mechanical mounting anddrive which is a matter of simple engineering choice based uponselection and cost of bearings and other components and does not affectthe function of the impellers.

According to a second preferred aspect of the invention there isprovided a crop harvesting header comprising:

a header frame arranged to be transported across ground carrying astanding crop for harvesting;

a cutter bar mounted on the header frame across a width of the headerfor movement across the ground for harvesting the standing crop;

a plurality of generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutterbar at positions spaced transversely of the header with the disks beingmounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respective generallyupright axes spaced along the cutter bar;

each disk having mounted thereon at a position spaced outwardly from therespective axis thereof at least one cutter blade such that rotation ofthe disk about its axis causes a standing crop to be cut by the blade asit rotates around the axis on the disk;

the header frame defining a discharge opening through which the cut cropis discharged for forming a swath behind the header;

at least one of the disks being mounted outwardly of the dischargeopening such that crop cut thereby must be carried inwardly to thedischarge opening;

and at least one impeller mounted at a position at or adjacent the atleast one disk for contacting the cut crop;

the impeller being mounted for rotation about a generally upstandingaxis;

the impeller having a bottom adjacent the cutter bar and a top spacedfrom the cutter bar;

the impeller having a plurality of bar members thereon at spacedpositions around the axis and arranged for engaging the crop, such thatrotation of the impeller causes the bar members in front of the axis tomove inwardly of the header such that the engagement of the bar memberswith the crop tends to carry the crop inwardly toward the dischargeopening;

the bar members of the impeller being shaped such that a spacing of thebar members from the axis at a top and bottom of the impeller is largerthan a spacing of the bar members from the axis at a position on theimpeller spaced downwardly from the top and spaced upwardly from thebottom.

The bar members are preferably simple bars formed from a material whichis of constant cross-section and continuous along its length so that thebar can be simply bent into the required “waist” shape. However the barmembers may be fabricated from separate pieces connected together eitherlongitudinally or transversely.

Preferably the bar members are shaped such that they are inclined fromthe top of the impeller to the central position on the impeller and fromthe bottom of the impeller to the central position such that the spacinggradually increases. However it is not essential that the inclination beconstant or straight and curved shapes may be suitable in somecircumstances, provided the narrower “waist” is formed.

Preferably the position is approximately at the mid height of theimpeller. However this again is not essential and the “waist” may becloser to the top or the bottom.

Preferably the spacing of the bar members from the axis, that is thediameter, is the same at the top and the bottom, although one or theother may be larger provide each is larger than the “waist”.

Preferably the bar members are supported on a first end disk member atthe top of the impeller and are supported on a second end disk member atthe bottom of the impeller and are unsupported therebetween. The diskmember may be of any shape such as a planar disk or may be formed withspokes from a central hub at the axis to the separate bar members.

Preferably the bar members are inclined and straight from the top to theposition on the impeller and inclined and straight from the bottom tothe position on the impeller and are bent at the position.

Preferably the bar members are circular in cross section. However othershapes may be selected to provide different effects on the crop materialas the members rotate and move relative to the crop.

Preferably the bar members are constant in cross section since thisallows them to be formed from simple elongate material bent to therequired “waist” shape. However other constructions can be used.

In one preferred arrangement where there are two disks outside thedischarge opening and two impellers are provided where each is co-axialwith a corresponding one of the disks, the impeller at an outer one ofthe two disks is larger in diameter and has more bar members than theimpeller at an inner one of the two disks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view showing generally a header of the type withwhich the present invention is preferably concerned.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the header of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the header of FIG. 1 on anenlarged scale showing one end only of the header, the other end beingsymmetrical.

FIG. 3A is view similar to that of FIG. 3 showing more detail of thedrive components shown only schematically in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the impeller 40 of FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 4A is an isometric view of the impeller 41 of FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the discharge opening andconditioning system taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a similar cross sectional view to that of FIG. 5 on anenlarged scale showing the inter-relation between the parts and showinga modified arrangement of the transfer roller.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Attention is directed to co-pending application Ser. No. 11/087,774filed Mar. 24, 2005 for BLADE FOR A CROP HARVESTING HEADER WITH ROTARYDISKS, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference toshow further details of the cutter disks and blades describedhereinafter.

Attention is directed to co-pending application Ser. No. 11/193,631filed Aug. 1, 2005 for CROP CONDITIONING ROLLER FLUTE SHAPE, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference to show furtherdetails of the conditioning rolls described hereinafter.

In FIG. 1 is shown schematically a header for attachment to conventionalswather tractor of the well known type having driven ground wheels andrear castor wheels. A front support assembly of the tractor carries theheader 14 including left and right lift arms which carry the header in afloating action across the ground along skid plates (not shown) of theheader. The header includes side walls 15 and 16 forming part of a frame17 attached to the conventional transport system of the tractor. Theframe carries top covers 18 which support a front skirt 19 in front ofthe cutter bar so as to provide protection for persons in the vicinityof the header which could be impacted by objects accelerated by the highspeed rotary cutting assembly described hereinafter.

The frame 17 includes a main transverse beam which is attached to thetractor. The main beam carries the side walls 15 and 16. The side wallseach comprises a vertical wall extending forwardly to a front edge 23 infront of the cutter bar which is generally indicated at 24. The sidewall is vertical and provides the front edge 23 lying in a verticalplane of the side wall so as to confine crop material to the interior ofthe header between the side walls for cutting action effected by thecutter bar 24.

Within the cutter bar 24 is provided a gear train (not shown) of meshinggears carried on suitable bearings so as to provide communication ofdrive of a number of vertical shafts carried on the cutter bar each forrotating a generally horizontal disk 26 about a vertical axis of theshaft. The disks are substantially identical. The disks are generallyelliptical in shape so that a length between two ends 26A and 26B issignificantly greater than a distance between the side edges in adirection at right angles to the length. At each of the ends 26A and 26Bis mounted a respective one of a pair of flails 27 each for pivotalmovement about a flail mounting pin 27A. The mounting pins are arrangedat the ends and thus at the maximum extent of the disk so that theflails project outwardly beyond the edges of the disk for rotation in acommon horizontal plane generally parallel to the plane of the cutterbar in a cutting action.

The disks are intermeshed so as to driven synchronously and they arearranged at 90° phase difference so that adjacent pairs of the disks areat 90° offset as they rotate to avoid interference between the disks andthe blades 27 carried thereby.

The cutter bar is wider than a discharge opening 30 with a conditioningsystem 31 mounted in the discharge opening 30. Thus the crop materialpasses over the disks when cut and also must be converged from the fullcut width into the discharge opening 30.

The cutter bar of this general construction is of a conventional natureand many examples of a commercial arrangement of this type are availablein the market place. Thus the details of the cutter bar and its mountingare well known to one skilled in the art and further details can beobtained from such commercial devices, the details of which areincorporated herein by reference.

The discharge opening 30 has two side walls 32 and 33 which confine thecrop material to pass through the discharge opening over a width lessthan the width of the header so that the side walls 32 and 33 are spacedinwardly from the respective end walls 15 and 16 of the header. The cropconditioning system 31 is arranged to span the width of the cropdischarge opening so that the width of the conditioning system is equalto the width of the discharge opening. The conditioning system comprisesa top roller 34 and a bottom roller 35 which have flutes 36 arranged ina meshing arrangement as described in more detail hereinafter so thatthe crop material passing through the discharge opening passes through anip 37 between the conditioning rolls and is discharged from the rear ofthe conditioning system as a swath of material to be discharged onto theground or to be collected as required.

The discs 26 mounted on the cutter bar 24 include a series of discswhich are located in front of the discharge opening 30. Outward of thesediscs and either side is provided a pair of outer discs indicated at 26Aand 26B with the disc 26B outermost. These discs are arranged to rotateinwardly so that the front extremity and the blade carried therebyrotates in the direction indicated at the arrows D as shown in FIG. 1 tocarry the crop material which is cut by those discs inwardly toward thedischarge opening.

Each of the discs 26A and 26B carries a respective one of a plurality ofimpellers. Thus the disc 26A carries an impeller 40 and the disc 26Bcarries an impeller 41. In between these two impellers is mounted athird impeller 42.

Thus in the embodiment shown there are three impellers arranged toengage the crop material during or slightly after the cutting action soas to carry the crop material inwardly toward the end wall of thedischarge opening. The number of impellers can be increased or decreaseddepending upon particular requirements or particular designs. Thus theremay be only two impellers or there maybe more impellers. The impellers40 and 41 are mounted on the respective disc so as to be carried therebyand driven thereby. The impeller 42 is carried on the frame 17 at aposition above the cutter bar 24 so as to be a hanging impellersupported from a mounting system 44 above the impeller wherein there isprovided a suitable bearing and also a suitable drive system within aframe member of the frame 17.

While the impellers 40 and 41 are mounted on the respective discs to bedriven thereby, in an alternative arrangement, the impellers may behanging impellers in the style of arrangement shown at impeller 42.

The impellers 40 and 41 are directly co-axial with the respective disc,26A and 26B. Hanging impellers to replace these impellers may be alsoco-axially arranged with the corresponding disc or the axes of theimpellers may be offset from the axes of the discs. It will beappreciated that the discs and the impellers co-operate to assist incarrying the crop material inwardly toward the discharge opening and toresist the crop material from moving rearwardly over the discs 26A and26B to a rear bulkhead panel which could cause collection of the cropmaterial and eventual blockage of the system.

As shown in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 3A, the frame 17 includes a framemember 45 within which is mounted a drive shaft and drive systemgenerally indicated at 46 and shown in more detail in FIG. 3A. Thisdrive system 46 provides drive through a gear box 46A to a drive shaft46B and drive link 47 to the end disc 26B to provide drive into an endgear of the cutter bar 24. The drive 46 also provides a drivecommunication by a pulley 46C and belt 46D to a drive coupling 48 whichis connected to a drive shaft 49 of the hanging impeller 42. Themounting 44 of the hanging impeller 42 includes a base plate 50 attachedto the frame member or plate 45 together with a bearing arrangement 51through which the shaft 49 passes.

The hanging impeller comprises a top plate 52 and a bottom plate 53defining top and bottom ends of the impeller 42 respectively. Betweenthese end plates 52 and 53 is provided a series of bars 54 at spacedpositions around an axis 55 of the impeller 42.

The impeller 40 shown in FIG. 4 similarly comprises a bottom plate 56and a top plate 57. In this arrangement the bottom plate 52 is bolteddirectly onto the top of the respective disc 26A. The top plate 57 isthus supported at a spaced position from the bottom plate 56 by theupstanding bars 58 which connect the top and bottom plates. The bars 54are substantially identical to the bars 58 providing impellers 42 and 40which are substantially identical in height and diameter. However thisrelationship is not essential and these impellers maybe of differentdimensions and constructions.

The impeller 41 shown in FIG. 4A is similar to the impeller 40 in thatit includes a base plate 60 bolted to the top of the end disc 26B. Theimpeller further includes a top plate 61 and a series of bars 62. Theheight of the impeller, 41 that is the distance between the top andbottom plate, is equal to the height of the other impellers. In this waythe top and bottom plates of the impeller 40 and 41 are aligned inheight across the width of the header.

However the impeller 41 is oval in that it is larger in dimension in adirection D1 than the diameter of the impeller 40 relative to its axis63 and is equal in dimension, in a direction D2 at right angles to thefirst direction D1, to the diameter of the impeller 40. The bars 58 onthe impeller 40 58 are angularly spaced around the respective axis 64with the distance between the bars being substantially equal. The bars62 on the impeller 41 are located at a greater diameter from the axis 63than the bars 58 on the impeller 40 and there are a larger number of thebars 62 than bars 58. Thus the impeller 40 as shown in more detail inFIG. 4 has only four bars at 90° spacing whereas the impeller 41 has sixbars at 450 spacing at a larger diameter. As the impeller 41 is oval inplan, the bars 62 are not equidistantly spaced around the full peripherybut are arranged in groups of three at the ends of the larger dimensionwith a larger spacing along the sides at the smaller dimension.

As best shown in FIGS. 4 and 4A, each of the bars 58 and 62 of theimpellers 40 and 41 has a top end 66 at the top plate 57 and a bottomend 67 at the bottom plate 56. The top and bottom ends are suitablyfastened to the top and bottom discs and in the embodiment shown this iseffected by providing a hole in the respective disc within which therespective end is located. In the embodiment shown each of the bars 58is formed by a tubular member of circular cross section. Each of thebars is bent at a central location 68 so as to form two inclinedportions 69 and 70 which extend from the bent center section 68 upwardlyto the top end and downwardly to the bottom end respectively. The bendis located so that the center of the bar is spaced inwardly toward theaxis relative to the corresponding top and bottom ends. Each of the barslies in an axial plane of the impeller. This forms for the impeller ineffect a waist at the mid height between the top and bottom ends. Thewaist thus forms in effect a circle surrounding the impeller which isnarrower than the bars at the top and bottom extremity. In this way theimpeller is “hour-glass” shape with the waist formed at the mid height.

As the top and bottom plates of the impellers 40 and 41 are at the sameheight, the waist at the center is similarly located at the same height.

The impeller 42 is identical in size and construction to the impeller 40but is located in a hanging arrangement from the upper rail 45 with thetop and bottom plates raised slightly relative to the top and bottomplates of the impellers 40 and 41. Thus the central waist of theimpeller 42 is at a raised height relative to the waists of theimpellers 40 and 41.

In one example of the impeller 40 the amount of bending of the bars issuch that a circle surrounding the bars at the waist is of the order of15.5 cm in diameter as opposed to a circle surrounding the bars at thetop and bottom ends which is 19 cm in diameter.

The bars are not necessarily circular in cross section and can be ofdifferent shapes to provide a more aggressive engagement with the crop.The circular cross section bars provide an action on the crop which isrelatively non-aggressive so that it reduces the tendency of theimpeller to grasp and hold portions of the crop which provides atendency for wrapping of the crop around the impeller as it rotates. Thesmooth surfaces provided by the bars allows the crop to sweep over thosesurfaces as it moves inwardly away from each of the impellers toward thedischarge opening. There are no sharp edges on the impeller bars whichcould act to cut into the crop and cause an engagement point tending tohold the crop against its required movement away from the impeller.

As the crop moves inwardly toward the discharge opening, the crop tendsto lie with the stalks across the front of the header. The shaping ofthe impeller with the narrower waist thus tends to cause the crop to becupped within the outer surface of the impeller so that less tendencyfor the crop materials to climb above the impellers. The crop materialthus is cradled by the bars of the impellers as the crop material movesinwardly with the crop material tending to center at the central waistof the impellers. This arrangement has therefore provided an improvedcrop flow across the front of the impellers as the impellers rotateinwardly across their front surfaces toward the discharge opening.

Turning now to FIG. 5, there is shown in cross section the componentswithin the discharge opening 30 which are located behind the discs 26and the cutting blades 27. Thus there is provided the top conditioningroller 34 which is located above the bottom conditioning roller 35.These define between them the nip 37 through which the crop material iscontrolled to pass. In order to assist the crop material from thecutting discs to flow to the nip 37, there is provided a crop transferroller 75 which is located in the area between the rear of the discs andthe nip of the conditioning roller system.

Thus the horizontal cutter disks 26 are mounted on the cutter bar 24 atpositions spaced transversely of the header with the disks 26 beingmounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respective generallyupright axes 26X spaced along the cutter bar. The cutter blades 27 arearranged substantially in a common cutting plane 27P generally parallelto the ground. The disks 26A and 26B are mounted outwardly of thedischarge opening 30 such that the width of the cutter bar is greaterthan the width of the discharge opening and such that crop cut must becarried thereby inwardly to the discharge opening.

The top conditioning roll 34 and the bottom conditioning roll 35 areparallel and arranged such that the crop passes through the nip 37between the top and bottom conditioning rolls. The top and bottomconditioning rolls are arranged such that the nip 37 is raised above thecommon cutting plane 27P and is located behind the disks 26. Thetransfer roller 75 is mounted behind the disks and in front of the nipfor transferring the crop upwardly and rearwardly from the disks to thenip. The top and bottom conditioning rolls 34, 35 each comprising acylindrical body 77, mounted for rotation about an axis 78, 79 thereof.In one example, on the cylindrical body 77 is mounted a series oflongitudinally extending, angularly spaced flutes 36 arranged such thatthe flutes 36 of the top roll 34 mesh with the flutes of the bottom roll35 in the conditioning action, as is well known.

However the present invention is also applicable to conditioning rollsof the type which have no flutes or ribs so that the conditioning actionis effected by a high crushing force between two plane rollers. Therollers can be smooth or may include grooves or indentations which arenot intended to mesh in the crushing action. Crushing conditioner rollsof this type are well known to persons skilled in this art and differentdesigns may be selected and used as will be known to such persons.

The transfer roller 75 also comprises a cylindrical body 80 having acylindrical outer surface mounted for rotation about an axis 81 thereof.On the body 80 is mounted a series of longitudinally extending,angularly spaced ribs 82.

The cylindrical body 80 of the transfer roller 75 has a diameter whichis at least equal to the diameter of the cylindrical bodies 77 and 78 ofthe top and bottom conditioning rolls. As shown the diameters are equal.The roller is not smaller than the rolls. It may be slightly larger butonly by a small difference. In one example all the bodies 77 and 80 areof the same size and are 16.8 cms in diameter. Diameters in the rangeplus or minus 20% of this value would generally be suitable.

The rolls 34 and 35 and the roller 75 are driven by a drive systemschematically indicated at 84 so that the transfer roller 75 is rotatedat a rotation rate in rpm which is less than a rotation rate in rpm ofthe top and bottom conditioning rolls 34 and 35. This rate of rotationis selected so as to provide the best transfer of the crop material andis preferably in the range 50% to 90% of the rate of the conditionerrolls which is generally of the order of 1000 rpm. In one example a rateof rotation of the transfer roller which is 66% of the rate of theconditioner rolls or of the order of 666 rpm has been found to besuitable.

Each rib 82 comprises an elongate metal bar which is rectangular incross-section to define an inner surface 83 welded to the cylindricalbody 80 of the roller 75 so as to extend along the full length of thebody. The bar may lie in an axial plane or may be slightly helical alongthe cylindrical body. The bar defines an outer surface 84 spaced fromthe cylindrical surface and a leading side surface 86 and a trailingside surface 85. A height of the outer surface 84 from the cylindricalsurface is greater than a width of the bar between the side surfaces 85,86. The height of the outer edge 84 from the cylindrical surface isdesirably greater than 1.5 cms and preferably in the range 1.9 cms to3.8 cms and more preferably of the order of 2.5 cms. This defines a rib82 which is aggressive in its action in engaging the crop to provide avigorous forwarding action. The number of ribs as shown is four at 90degree spacing although this may be changed if a greater or lessaggressive action is required.

The transfer roller 75 is located such that the axis of the transferroller is above the cutting plane 27P. That is the axis is not alignedwith the cutting plane 27P nor is it generally aligned but it issignificantly higher than the cutting plane. This positioning of theaxis of the roller allows a larger roller to be used with bars of largerheight. The axis 81 of the transfer roller 75 is above the commoncutting plane 27 of the blades by a distance of at least 4 cms andpreferably in the range 4.5 to 7.5 cms. A height of preferably of theorder of 5.0 cms above the cutting plane has been found to be effective.

A lowermost tangent 80T of the cylindrical body 80 of the transferroller 75 is however below the cutting plane 27P. An uppermost tangent82T to a path 82P of travel of the outermost surface of the ribs 82 ofthe transfer roller 75 is at or above the axis 79 of the bottomconditioning roll 35 and below the nip 37.

An uppermost tangent 80S of the cylindrical body 80 of the transferroller 75 is below the axis 79 of the bottom conditioning roll 35.

In FIG. 5 the ribs 82 are arranged such that the side surfaces 85, 86 ofeach extend generally at right angles to the cylindrical body. That isthe rib projects directly outwardly from the body generally in an axialplane of the body. As an alternative and preferable arrangement shown inFIG. 6, the ribs are arranged such that the side surfaces 88 and 89 areinclined relative to an axial plane of the roller through the innersurface and such that the outer surface 90 is angularly advancedrelative to the inner surface 91. This arrangement yet further increasesthe aggressive action of the bars on the crop material so as to drivethe crop more vigorously from the cuffing plane upwardly and rearwardlytoward the nip.

The waist or narrowest intermediate location on the impellers 40 and 41is located at a height so that it is above the horizontal planecontaining the axis of the transfer roller and below the horizontalplane containing the axis of the top roller. In this way it locates ortends to locate the crop generally in this zone for better feedingbetween the transfer roller and the top conditioner roll so as to betterenter the nip.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein abovedescribed, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same madewithin the spirit and scope of the claims without department from suchspirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in theaccompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only andnot in a limiting sense.

1. A crop harvesting header comprising: a header frame arranged to betransported across ground on which there is a standing crop forharvesting; a cutter bar mounted on the header frame across a width ofthe header for movement across the ground for harvesting the standingcrop; a plurality of generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on thecutter bar at positions spaced transversely of the header with the disksbeing mounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respectivegenerally upright axes spaced along the cutter bar; each disk havingmounted thereon at a position spaced outwardly from the respective axisthereof at least one cutter blade such that rotation of the disk aboutits axis causes a standing crop to be cut by the blade as it rotatesaround the axis on the disk; the header frame defining a dischargeopening through which the cut crop is discharged for forming a swathbehind the header; at least one of the disks being mounted outwardly ofthe discharge opening such that crop cut thereby must be carriedinwardly to the discharge opening; at least one first impeller mountedat a position at or adjacent the at least one disk for contacting thecut crop; and at least one second impeller separate from the disks withthe axis of the second impeller being spaced from the axis of each ofthe disks; each of the first and second impellers being mounted forrotation about a generally upstanding axis; each of the first and secondimpellers having a bottom adjacent the cutter bar and a top spaced fromthe cutter bar; each of the first and second impellers having componentsthereof at positions thereon extending from the top to the bottom withthe components being located around the axis and with the componentsarranged for engaging the crop, such that rotation of the impellercauses the components in front of the axis to move inwardly of theheader such that the engagement of the components with the crop tends tocarry the crop inwardly toward the discharge opening; the components ofeach of the first and second impellers being shaped such that a spacingof the components from the axis at the top and bottom of the impeller islarger than a spacing of the components from the axis at an intermediateposition on the impeller spaced downwardly from the top and spacedupwardly from the bottom.
 2. The header according to claim 1 wherein thecomponents are shaped such that they are inclined from the top of theimpeller to said intermediate position on the impeller and from thebottom of the impeller to said intermediate position such that thespacing gradually increases.
 3. The header according to claim 1 whereinthe intermediate position is approximately at a mid height of theimpeller.
 4. The header according to claim 1 wherein the spacing of thecomponents from the axis is the same at the top and the bottom.
 5. Theheader according to claim 1 wherein there is provided at least one firstimpeller which is co-axial with a corresponding one of the disks.
 6. Theheader according to claim 5 wherein the first impeller is located at thecorresponding one of the disks and is driven thereby.
 7. The headeraccording to claim 1 wherein there are two disks outside the dischargeopening and three impellers, where two of the impellers are said firstimpellers arranged such that each is co-axial with a corresponding oneof the disks and where one of the impellers is said second impellerseparate from the disks and the axis of the impeller is spaced from theaxis of each of the disks.
 8. The header according to claim 1 whereinthere are two disks outside the discharge opening and two impellers,where one of the impellers is said first impeller arranged such that itis co-axial with a corresponding one of the disks and where one of theimpellers is said second impeller separate from the disks and the axisof the impeller is spaced from the axis of each of the disks.
 9. Theheader according to claim 1 wherein the each of the components iscontinuous from the top to the bottom of the impeller.
 10. A cropharvesting header comprising: a header frame arranged to be transportedacross ground on which there is a standing crop for harvesting; a cutterbar mounted on the header frame across a width of the header formovement across the ground for harvesting the standing crop; a pluralityof generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutter bar atpositions spaced transversely of the header with the disks being mountedon the cutter bar for driven rotation about respective generally uprightaxes spaced along the cutter bar; each disk having mounted thereon at aposition spaced outwardly from the respective axis thereof at least onecutter blade such that rotation of the disk about its axis causes astanding crop to be cut by the blade as it rotates around the axis onthe disk; the header frame defining a discharge opening through whichthe cut crop is discharged for forming a swath behind the header; atleast one of the disks being mounted outwardly of the discharge openingsuch that crop cut thereby must be carried inwardly to the dischargeopening; and at least one impeller mounted at a position at or adjacentthe at least one disk for contacting the cut crop; the impeller beingmounted for rotation about a generally upstanding axis; the impellerhaving a bottom adjacent the cutter bar and a top spaced from the cutterbar; the impeller having at least four bar members thereon at spacedpositions around the axis and arranged for engaging the crop, such thatrotation of the impeller causes the bar members in front of the axis tomove inwardly of the header such that the engagement of the bar memberswith the crop tends to carry the crop inwardly toward the dischargeopening; the impeller being open between the bar members such that aperipheral surface of the impeller for engaging the crop consists solelyof the bar members; the bar members of the impeller being shaped suchthat a spacing of the bar members from the axis at the top and bottom ofthe impeller is larger than a spacing of the bar members from the axisat an intermediate position on the impeller spaced downwardly from thetop and spaced upwardly from the bottom.
 11. The header according toclaim 10 wherein the bar members are shaped such that they are inclinedfrom the top of the impeller to said intermediate position on theimpeller and from the bottom of the impeller to said intermediateposition such that the spacing gradually increases.
 12. The headeraccording to claim 10 wherein the intermediate position is approximatelyat a mid height of the impeller.
 13. The header according to claim 10wherein the spacing of the bar members from the axis is the same at thetop and the bottom.
 14. The header according to claim 10 wherein the barmembers are supported on a first end disk member at the top of theimpeller and are supported on a second end disk member at the bottom ofthe impeller and are unsupported therebetween.
 15. The header accordingto claim 10 wherein the bar members are inclined and straight from thetop to the position on the impeller and inclined and straight from thebottom to the position on the impeller and are bent at the intermediateposition.
 16. The header according to claim 11 wherein the bar membershave an outer periphery which is circular in cross-section.
 17. Theheader according to claim 11 wherein the bar members have an outerperiphery which is constant in cross section.
 18. A crop harvestingheader comprising: a header frame arranged to be transported acrossground on which there is a standing crop for harvesting; a cutter barmounted on the header frame across a width of the header for movementacross the ground for harvesting the standing crop; a plurality ofgenerally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutter bar at positionsspaced transversely of the header with the disks being mounted on thecutter bar for driven rotation about respective generally upright axesspaced along the cutter bar; each disk having mounted thereon at aposition spaced outwardly from the respective axis thereof at least onecutter blade such that rotation of the disk about its axis causes astanding crop to be cut by the blade as it rotates around the axis onthe disk; the header frame defining a discharge opening through whichthe cut crop is discharged for forming a swath behind the header; atleast one of the disks being mounted outwardly of the discharge openingsuch that crop cut thereby must be carried inwardly to the dischargeopening; and at least one impeller mounted at a position at or adjacentthe at least one disk for contacting the cut crop; the impeller beingmounted for rotation about a generally upstanding axis; the impellerhaving a bottom adjacent the cutter bar and a top spaced from the cutterbar; the impeller having a plurality of bar members thereon at spacedpositions around the axis and arranged for engaging the crop, such thatrotation of the impeller causes the bar members in front of the axis tomove inwardly of the header such that the engagement of the bar memberswith the crop tends to carry the crop inwardly toward the dischargeopening; the bar members of the impeller being shaped such that aspacing of the bar members from the axis at the top and bottom of theimpeller is larger than a spacing of the bar members from the axis at anintermediate position on the impeller spaced downwardly from the top andspaced upwardly from the bottom; wherein there are two disks outside thedischarge opening and two impellers arranged such that each is co-axialwith a corresponding one of the disks and where the impeller at an outerone of the two disks is larger in diameter and has more bar members thanthe impeller at an inner one of the two disks.
 19. A crop harvestingheader comprising: a header frame arranged to be transported acrossground on which there is a standing crop for harvesting; a cutter barmounted on the header frame across a width of the header for movementacross the ground for harvesting the standing crop; a plurality ofgenerally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutter bar at positionsspaced transversely of the header with the disks being mounted on thecutter bar for driven rotation about respective generally upright axesspaced along the cutter bar; each disk having mounted thereon at aposition spaced outwardly from the respective axis thereof at least onecutter blade such that rotation of the disk about its axis causes astanding crop to be cut by the blade as it rotates around the axis onthe disk; the header frame defining a discharge opening through whichthe cut crop is discharged for forming a swath behind the header; atleast two of the disks at one end of the discharge opening being mountedoutwardly of the discharge opening such that crop cut thereby must becarried inwardly to said one end of the discharge opening; at least twoimpellers mounted adjacent said one end of the discharge opening forengaging the crop with an outer one of the impellers mounted outwardlyof an inner one of the impellers so as to carry the crop inwardly tosaid one end of the discharge opening; each of the impellers beingmounted for rotation about a generally upstanding axis both in a commondirection such that an outer periphery of the impellers in front of theimpellers moves inwardly tending to carry crop inwardly across the frontof the impellers toward said one end of the discharge opening with thecrop being discharged from the inner one of the impellers inwardly intothe discharge opening; each of the impellers having a bottom adjacentthe cutter bar and a top spaced from the cutter bar; each of theimpellers having components thereof at positions thereon extending fromthe top to the bottom with the components being located around the axisand with the components arranged for engaging the crop, such thatrotation of the impeller causes the components in front of the axis tomove inwardly of the header such that the engagement of the componentswith the crop tends to carry the crop inwardly toward the dischargeopening; the components of each of the impellers being shaped such thata spacing of the components from the axis at the top and bottom of theimpeller is larger than a spacing of the components from the axis at anintermediate position on the impeller spaced downwardly from the top andspaced upwardly from the bottom.